Description Medium-sized evergreen tree with a conic to ovoid-conic crown. Foliage grows in dense sprays, varying from dull gray-green to bright glaucous blue-green in color. Leaves are scale-like, 2-5 mm long, and produced on rounded (not flattened) shoots. Seed cones are globose to oblong, 15-33 mm long, with 6 or 8 (rarely 4 or 10) scales, green at first, maturing gray or gray-brown about 20–24 months after pollination. Cones remain closed for many years, only opening after the parent tree is killed in a wildfire, thereby allowing the seeds to colonize the bare ground exposed by the fire. Male cones are 3-5 mm long, and release pollen in February-March.

Dimensions Height: 12-21 m. (40-70')Diameter: 0.3-0.6 m. (1-2').

Habitat Canyons & valleys, Scrub, shrub & brushlands, Mountains.

Range California, Southwest, Texas.

Discussion Arizona Cypress, particularly the strongly glaucous var. glabra, is widely cultivated as Christmas or an ornamental tree. Unlike Monterey Cypress, it has proved highly resistant to cypress canker, caused by the fungus Seiridium cardinale, and growth is reliable where this disease is prevalent.